Palomino Armstrong is famous for rescuing Chilly
Pepper and Honey Bandit. Those two orphaned mustangs have grown up to
be beautiful horses. Honey's not totally out of the woods, even after
his first birthday, but Palomino and her family of dedicated 2 and 4
footed helpers have brought him a long way on the road to a real horsey
life.

Most of us don't talk about the foals that are lost, but
Palomino, Shirley, Betty, Bonnie, Willis and many others can tell you
about them, by name.

Palomino is putting her heart out there to be trounced by tiny hooves, one more time.

This is Rocky. He is such a baby, he has no teeth. He is in Mama Shirley (wild horse angel for whom I named Mrs. Allen in the Phantom books) 's HOUSE

A foal was picked up last night by some well intended
ATV riders. They had seen the foal by itself in the Ruby Ave. area north
of the Silver Springs airport during the late afternoon. Around 8:00 PM,
on their way home, they saw the foal again in the same location curled up next
to a utility pole. The band of horses that roamed that area was nowhere to
be seen. Although it would have been better for them to contact Daryl or
the volunteers, they decided to take the foal home.

We got permission to
pick up the foal and place it in LRTC's orphan foal project. Betty Retzer
and Bob Motamenpour retrieved the foal from his rescuers. Mike Holmes
checked out the area and confirmed that the foal was from Bubba's band, often
seen near "Four Corners" in Silver Springs. However at the time the foal
was picked up the band was nowhere to be seen. Furthermore the foal appeared too
weak to be able to keep up with the band, so it was brought in to
Shirley's. Although Mike had later located the horses, and while we always
like to reunite separated foals with their dams when we can even after we pick
them up, it was definitely clear that this foal was too weak to be turned back
with his band.

Due to Shirley sustaining a possible rotator cuff tear,
the doctor has put her on "light duty. The Dayton facility's capacity to
take care of week-old foals is therefore become limited so Palomino Armstrong of
the Chilli Pepper rehab project will take this foal, named "Rocky" by his
original rescuers as he was found in a heavily rocky area. The next few days will be critical as we have no way of
knowing why Rocky fell behind and was left by his band. He could have some
serious underlying health problem. Therefore he has been given the regimen
prescribed for all foals that are received in his condition. If he
flourishes and once he is weaned, Rocky will be available to an appropriate
adopter. If he turns out to be half the horse that Bubba is, he will be
magnificent.(NOTE from Terri: tomorrow I'll post a photo of Bubba the wild stallion)

First things first: when Rocky picked his way back into Nature, he checked out Matt, Palomino's husband

from Palomino:

Hi
ya'll. Everything is going well so far. Just a quick note - If anyone
ever finds a baby they think has been left behind, it is best not to
touch it. There is a wonderful system set up where the foal Will be
monitored to make sure it is safe and that way the mom has time to come
back and get her baby. These foal are so delicate and they need their
natural moms. You can call the brand inspect...or.
LRTC or Willis Lamm. Shirley Allen, just to mention a few and they Will
make sure it is taken care of in the best and safest way for the foal.
It is also totally illegal to take a baby off the range without turning
it in to the proper authorities. Just some info to protect the babies n
the would be rescuers. Keep up the prayers cuz it's 3:50 a.m. n he
just had his milk n he is resting comfortably n looking way cute! God
bless you all for helping. Hugs P

Rocky can go outside & even feels frisky, but his energy is very limited and he's still a fragile little guy

If you read my blog very often, you know I rarely direct you to places where you can spend money, but I know Palomino & I've seen how she works for the horses. If you'd like to donate to her efforts to save babies like Rocky, you can click & donate to Wild Foal rescue

Because Palomino KNOWS we aren't rolling in cash, she even has a spot to click on $5 contribution! Now, that's a (horse)woman who lives in the real world.

Best,

Terri

Comments:
Thank you to Palamino once again for caring for this baby and the rescuers who cared enough to stop. If they had not picked up the foal he may not have made it through the night. Is there any word on the dam? I'll keep Rocky and as always, all the horses in my prayers.

Thought you might like to know there was another player in Rocky's tale. Melissa McMichaels was the first person who the people told about finding the foal . They were going to keep it and she urged them to contact Betty Retzer. It took her a while to convince them. Without her intervention , Rocky might have been in much worst shape when turned over, or may have died at the hands of the inexperienced people who found him..